D.—l

66

The Kaihu Creek Bridge, Maropiu-Karara Road. —This bridge consists of two 24 ft. and one 82 ft. spans on timber piers. The work is being carried out by the Hobson County Council. Opouteke River Bridge, Kaikohe — Mangakahia Church Road. —The construction of this bridge is now in hand, and consists of one central truss of 61 ft. 3 in. span and two ferro-concrete spans of 24 ft. at each end, with 11 ft. 8 in. clear roadway, all built on ferro-concrete piling. Kaimarama Bridge, Coroinandel. —This bridge has been erected in ferro-concrete by the Department. It consists of three spans, two of which are 35 ft. each, and one 60 ft. The roadway is 11 ft. The approaches are now under construction. Thames River Tragic-bridge, Te Aroha (pound for pound).—This bridge was constructed by the Te Aroha Borough Council, and consists of two 19 ft. stringer spans, rive 40 ft., two 42 ft., and two 80 ft. truss spans. The roadway is 14 ft. wide. Hamilton Traffic Bridge.—This bridge is being erected in steel, and consists of two spans of 40 ft. 9 in., two spans of 40 ft. each, and one arch span over the water of 340 ft. The deck is 24 ft. in. wide, and there is also a footpath 4 ft. 6 in. wide. The bridge is almost complete. The work is being carried out by the Hamilton Borough Council, with the assistance of a Government subsidy. Puniu Bridge, Te Awamutu - Otoruhanga Road, consists of one 80 ft. truss and six 26 ft. spans. The approaches are now being filled in. The work is being carried out by the Department. Tokiohuru Bridge, L'arapara—knrioi Road. —lhis bridge has been completed, and consists of one 70 ft. truss span on timber piers, with al4 ft. roadway. Approaches 20 chains in length were also completed. Maraekakaho Stream Bridge, Mangataki Road, consists of seven 25 ft. spans on ferro-concrete piles, and was completed last December. Wairoa Bridge, Frasertown. This bridge consists of six 20 ft. spans and two 147 ft. spans on pile piers, and has now been completed. ll' (inganui Town Bridge. —The sinking of the cylinders of Nos. 5 and 6 piers was finished early in December last, having been effected without interruption to the traffic. Kawhataio Bridge (pound for pound) consists of one 120 ft. and four 10 ft. spans. The work was carried out by the Rangitikei County Council. Manawatv Bridge (Lower Gorge). —This bridge consists of seven 147 ft. and one 36 ft. spans. The work was carried out by the Oroua County Council. The Government subsidized this work to the extent of £8,500. The cost of the bridge was approximately £20,000. Wairau Bridge, Kaiti,uio—T' iiainoruin—Blenheim Road. —The erection of this bridge, which is 481 ft. in length, consisting of rive 80 ft., three 20 ft., and one 21 ft. spans, was carried out under the direct supervision of the Spring Creek Road Board. o'Sullivan's Bridge, Belg rove-Went port Road. —This bridge, erected by the Department, consists of one 20 ft., one 80 ft., one 147 ft., and one 60 ft. spans, with concrete piers. The total length of the bridge is 370 ft., and it was completed in November last. The approaches were also completed. Mokihinui River Bridge, Coast Road, from Westport northwards. —Eight spans of this bridge were completed; it was then found impossible to drive any more piles in the bed of the river, and the contractor was given an extra price for constructing two oylinder-and-concrete piers, which work is now in hand under the supervision of the Department. Little Wanganui Rivtr Bridge, Coast Road front, Westport northwards. —This bridge consists of two 40 ft. and three 25 ft. spans, and two small land-spans. It is built of brown-birch, and was completed last May. Ihe approaches are now being finished. Otira Bridge (Upper). —This dray-bridge of one span of 120 ft. in length has been completed. It is on the main coach-road between Canterbury and Westland. Otira Bridge (Lower). —The erection of this bridge is progressing. One truss has been completed, and the second truss is now being placed in position. This bridge is of similar design to the Upper Otira Bridge. Waikukupu Bridge. —This bridge has now been completed. It is on the main road between VVaiho and Karangarua, and consists of four 40 ft. and two 20 ft. spans. Big Wanganui Bridge. —A contract has been accepted, and the works are now under way for the construction of the above bridge, which consists of eight spans of 100 ft. on timber pile piers, and one concrete abutment. CENTRAL OTAGO IRRIGATION. The first work done during the year was the-contour-survey and levelling of the Serpentine Reservoir site in Taieri River above the Styx junction. This work took a very considerable time, there being in all about 175 miles of traverses and levels. A dam 50 ft. high will impound all the water available annually, which is in the neighbourhood of 10,000 million cubic feet. A reservoir-site was also surveyed in the Taieri River at Canadian Flat, some twelve miles above the Styx. This, with a dam 64 ft. high, would conserve about 888 million cubic feet of water. It would, however, submerge the workings of the Taieri Falls Sluicing Company, and would probably be available at present only at great cost. A dam-site and contours have been surve} - ed in Styx River to show the cost of raising the water to divert it—with a large race sufficient to carry the flood-water —into the Serpentine Reservoir at the level of 1,860 ft. The dam would be about 25 ft. high, and the race 15 chains long. Two reservoir and dam sites were surveyed at the head of the Poolburn, the area of the upper one being 975 acres, with a capacity of 992 million cubic feet, while the area of the lower one is 446 acres, and its capacity about 298 million cubic feet. The drainage-area is unfortunately only 16 square miles at the lower site, and 8 square miles at the upper. The dams will be 65 ft. and 50 ft. high respectively, to hold all available annual water. A race-line was roughly surveyed from the Great Moss Swamp to Sutton Creek, in connection with a project for generating electric power at the Sutton, and a similar race, also for electricpower purposes, from the Loganburn below Great Moss Swamp to the Taieri Valley near the Loganburn Junction, as well as three alternative dam-sites.